Early Diagnosis
Early diagnosis is a screening or screening test that allows identifying, within the general population, those affected by cancer or pre-malignant lesions that until then went unnoticed due to the absence of symptoms.
Its importance lies in the fact that certain types of cancers can be prevented, as in the case of colon or skin cancer, or they can be detected in early stages, such as prostate, breast, colon or cervix.
This is possible thanks to the application of diagnostic tests of screening or screening that allow diagnosing the disease in its early stages. It is not a definitive diagnostic test, so people with a positive result in the screening test must undergo safer diagnostic tests to confirm the disease. In the case of mammography, for example, if it is positive, the result should be confirmed by a biopsy.
There are some types of cancers in which early diagnosis is especially beneficial, given that the disease affects many people and they are of high mortality:
- Breast cancer: Selective mammography screening
- Prostate cancer: PSA
- Colon cancer: colonoscopy
- Cervical Cancer: HPV Vaccination and Gynecological Cytology
